NorNickel ready for sanctions, fears no dire effect — CEO

MOSCOW, March 20. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian mining and metallurgical company Norilsk Nickel (NorNckel) is prepared for possible EU sanctions following Crimea’s accession to Russia and does not envisage any serious consequences, the company’s chief executive Vladimir Potanin told journalists on the sidelines of the meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on Thursday.

“We started to think long ago about how we would react to sanctions,” Potanin said. “Although neither we nor our partners expect these sanctions, we have worked out certain protection measures, including the use of more foreign currency accounts. We have devised some likely steps in Southeast Asian markets, too.”

Norilsk Nickel is a diversified mining and metallurgical company, the world’s leading producer of nickel and palladium, and a major producer of platinum, cobalt, copper and rhodium. The company also mines gold, silver, iridium, osmium, selenium, ruthenium and tellurium.